Kell
-
Posts
8,975 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Books
Posts posted by Kell
-
-
Me too - I fell far less intimidated by Mount TBR these days (I only really began to feel overwhelmed by it when I got pregnant and realised I wasn't reading as much and wouldn't have the time to read so much once Tadpole arrives!). The Read 3, Buy 1 thing is REALLY working out well for me, as I'm saving up my "credits" for a while, so as not to add to the pile too much at the beginning - I want to see that list dwindle right down over the coming months so I can fel like I'm back on top of things again.
-
Arthur Golden based Memoirs of a Geisha partially on fact, using a real-life Japanese Geiko called Mineko Iwasaki as his model for the lead character, and in revealing his source he very much upset her as he had promised her anonymity.
From Wikipedia:
It's worth mentioning that Iwasaki's autobiography is far more interesting and far better-written than Golden's fictionalised account!After the Japanese edition of Memoirs of a Geisha was published, Arthur Golden was sued for breach of contract and defamation of character by Mineko Iwasaki, a retired geisha he had interviewed for background information while writing the novel. The plaintiff asserted that Golden had agreed to protect her anonymity, due to the traditional code of silence about their clients, if she told him about her life as a geisha. However, Golden listed Iwasaki as a source in his acknowledgments for the novel.In 2003, Golden's publisher settled with Iwasaki out of court for an undisclosed sum of money.
Iwasaki later went on to write her own autobiography, an account vastly different from Arthur Golden's novel, published as Geisha, A Life in the U.S. and Geisha of Gion in the UK.
-
I'm struggling with this one in a major way. I'm just not getting into the story (or what little story there seems to be so far!) and I'm not connecting or gaining an understanding of any of the characters - I don't even particularly like any of them (not that I actively hate any of them either - I just can't see the attraction). I think I'm going to have to get hold of the film and watch it to see if that makes a difference and then come back to the book.
-
Agatha Christie, arguably the world's most famous mystery writer, was part of a mystery herself!
From Wikipedia:
On 8 December 1926, while living in Sunningdale in Berkshire, she disappeared for ten days, causing great interest in the press. Her car was found in a chalk pit in Newland's Corner, Surrey. She was eventually found at the Harrogate Hydro hotel under the name of the woman with whom her husband had recently admitted to having an affair. She had suffered a nervous breakdown and a fugue state caused by the death of her mother and her husband's infidelity. She could not recount any information as to her disappearance due to amnesia. Opinions are still divided as to whether this was a publicity stunt. Public sentiment at the time was negative, with many feeling that an alleged publicity stunt had cost the taxpayers a substantial amount of money. -
Just remembered another one because I saw the trailer for the film on TV last night - Twelve Monkeys by Elizabeth Hands.
Also just had spring to mind a book a read a little while ago - Oracle by Ian Watson.
And Timeline by Michael Crichton.
-
I loved some aspects of it, but found other areas a bit of a drag. It's beautifully written and carefully crafted - vey fairytale-ish in some places (actually, in most places). It's certainly an easy read and can be either taken as a very light, frivolous read, or as something deeper depending on the mood of the reader.
-
to the forum - I hope you'll enjoy it here.
-
Maybe The Princess Bride?
That's just what I was coming back to suggest! It's an excellent book from start to finish.
-
Ooh, that's a toughie! I'll have to have a bit of a think and get back to you on this!
-
And anyone who doesn't feel comfortable writing a review can always post their comments and start a discussion on the book they've read in the general books discussion section - that's always more than welcome too.
-
Lightning by Dean Koontz - it's my favourite Koontz and one of my all-time favourite books. Very cleverly written and even manages to avoid paradox!
The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger - engrossing, beautiful and dark in place. Very unusual premise and very deftly handled.
Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson - a love story that spans decades. I've never actually read the book, but I loved the film (starring Chritopher Reeve and Jane Seymor).
-
to the forum, Toadstool.
-
Well, yuo seem to be dealing with the numbers better than I, Jen - I still tell paople I'm 20+11 - I cannot bring myself to say the actual number in realation to myself!
-
That's very true - LOL!
Still, the archiving doesn't usually take all that long and she feels very satisfied when it's done and everything looks lovely and neat again.
Incideantlly, if anyone does feel that something's been spirited away that should have been left, you can let me know and I'll pass the message on to the Pixie. In some cases, they may be resurected (as they may have perhaps just decided they wanted to visit their old buddies and tagged along for the fun of it without the Pixie noticing!), but in other cases, a new thread might be better...
-
And what makes it even easier is that you can just click on the person's name when it comes up at the bottom and you get taken straight to their profile.
-
No, the Archive Pixie does it for the joy of doing it - she loves the forum and likes it to look nice and tidy.
-
Yes Mia - instead of starting a thread for them. Just think though - you get all those lovely messages on your profile and they can stay there, whereas the birthday threads get removed after a little while. And there's the added bonus that when it's on your profile, you get a notification in your email to tell you you have a message, whereas with a new thread, you might not notice until ages after your birthday has passed.
-
The Archive Pixie is currently at work taking old, defunct threads to a better, happier place where they can be with their old friends. Worry not, however, your post count will not be affected!
-
With the upgrade, we 've got several dandy new features and we thought it might be a nice idea to put one of them into practice when it comes to birthdays.
At present, a new thread gets started up with birthday/anniversary wishes, but sometimes members haven't been around for a while and don't see their birthday wishes.
From now on, please put all birthday/anniversary wishes on the member's profile messages. They will receive an alert in their email teling them someone has left them a message - so your good wishes won't be missed.
And you never know - it might remind a few of our absentee members that we're here and tempt them back.
-
Quite an interesting list - I'm pleased to see it's not all fiction too.
Have already read: 16
Have on Mount TBR: 6
Want to read a further: 12
-
to the forum,Nearco. I'm sure you'll soon find your to-be-read pile growing uncontrollably once you've been here a short while. Have a quick look in the reviews section, or our reading circle - there are loads of excellent books mentioned there and you can bet there'll be at least half a dozen that jump right out at you within the first few minutes! Hope you have fun here.
-
to the forum, Jaya. I hope you'l enjoy it here.
-
to the forum, Tinymoz. Hope you enjoy it here.
-
Done! I'd like to see that.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter- Kim Edwards
in General Fiction
Posted
It ahdn't really grabbed my attention either before I finally picked it up. It's definitely well worth it though.